The UK coalition governments Secretary of State for Culture, the Olympics, Media and Sport (DCMS), Jeremy Hunt, has confirmed that a full policy aimed at making broadband internet speeds of at least 2Mb available to everybody in the country by 2015 (i.e. Universal Service Commitment) will be outlined before the end of this year. This will also include more detail on helping to foster the private sector funded rollout of newer "super-fast" Next Generation Access (NGA) broadband services.

The news was spotted by ComputerWeekly, which happened across an interesting transcript from a recent Culture, Media and Sport Committee meeting on 14th September 2010 (here). The transcript quotes Hunt's response to a question from Adrian Sanders, the Liberal Democrat MP for Torbay.

Q68 Mr Sanders:

On broadband, I understand that a pilot study in Cornwall is exploring the use of analogue spectrum, in order to provide broadband in rural areas, as one of the regions of the country that has already had its digital switchover. What can you do to facilitate the use of analogue spectrum to cover hard-to-reach areas?

Mr Hunt:

We are doing everything we can because our broadband policy is one of the most important things that we will be doing, as a Department to contribute to the Government’s economic growth strategy. There are 160,000 homes-predominantly in rural and remote areas-that do not have access to broadband at all. There are over 9 million adults who have never used the internet, as compared with 30 million who use it every day. So it is a very important tool of social policy.

Before Christmas, we will be announcing a policy that we believe will solve the big question of, first of all, how we deal with the homes that are not able to get access to broadband, or access at reasonable speeds, but will also lay the foundations for the next generation of broadband-superfast broadband-to meet our stated objective that by 2015 we will have the best superfast broadband network in Europe.

Q69 Mr Sanders:

That is a very ambitious target. Do you see that being delivered through the use of analogue spectrum or by some other means?

Mr Hunt:

I believe that it will be delivered by a combination of routes. Our belief is that we should not back a particular technology, or a particular platform, but try to create a climate that stimulates the maximum possible private sector investment.

The reason for that is this: if you take the most commonly talked-about technology in this area, which is fibre optic technology, the broadband stakeholder who did a report for the previous Government estimated the cost of bringing fibre to every home [ FTTH ] in the country would be about £29 billion, which is unfortunately not money that I have at my disposal. Realistically, if we are going to deliver superfast broadband, we have to find a flexible regulatory solution that stimulates investment by the private sector. Those are the plans that we hope to unveil.

We already know that this plan will involve using some BBC money from the TV Licence Fee (3.5% Digital Switchover Budget) and forcing operators, through regulatory adjustments, to open up their cable ducts, telegraph poles, electricity pylons, water mains and sewers for use by new fibre optic lines. What we don't have is the mechanism and detail to go along with that plan.

However none of this should come as any kind of surprise because it was already part of the governments action plan, as previously announced earlier this summer (here and then here). Indeed the government's original plan calls for its consultation on infrastructure deregulation to be completed before the end of November 2010. We've pasted the full action plan below.


In related news we hear word on the grapevine that a certain big UK telecoms operator will be revealing exactly how they aim to help tackle the "Final Third" of UK homes and businesses where either slow or no broadband is available. Sadly we're sworn to secrecy, under pain of PR death; you'll just have to wait a couple more days for news on that.